~ Heading back to Callie

Category Archives: Winter

The darkness of today’s morning was stark compared to last weeks well lit mornings. I turned light switches on to help the disoriented way I felt but was unsuccessful at making my way through the darkness without breaking a window slat.

“Peering into the heart of darkness – the supermassive black hold at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy;” NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 2010

The small carrot, broccoli, and beet seeds we’ve potted are sprouting in 2.5 inch plastic pots that incubate by the kitchen light overnight. Once green stems rise from the dirt, we take them outside to fend for themselves in these warm California days. If it gets cold overnight, sometimes we coddle and bring them back in, trying for the first time ever to grow our own food.

“Spirit of ’18. The World Cry FOOD. Keep the home gardening going,” ca. 1917 – ca. 1919, U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD

With the weekend upon us there is an opportunity to move from here – from the workday life – to wherever there will take us. No plans are often the best way to manage what can be just a short, fun getaway.

Just like the beach, the Columbia River is shown here at Rooster Rock State Park, David Falconer (photographer), 1973, U.S. National Archives

Although we are far from harvesting and winnowing, we have started a winter garden from seed, hoping that the sprouted indoor fledglings will transplant well once they are strong enough. In the meantime, we continue to care for the small seeds that are finding their way up through the soil in the warmth of our well lit kitchen.

The basil shown here is grown by a friend in Kentucy whose summer crop is wild. Our small bucket of basil doesn’t yet compare as we have been fending off feral chickens and so succumbed to starting the young seeds indoors before moving them out in tall pots. But neither of these is Holy Basil.

Holy Basil, with it’s second name, Tulsi or Tulasi, is from the Lamiaceae family. It is cultivated as a medicinal plant and used in Ayurveda for its adaptogen qualities — helping headaches, stress, inflammation and more. It has, for centuries not only treated illness, but flavored food and been observed by many as a powerful and healing plantlife.

Sliding stones on ice with a broom sounds like a great winter sport. It is related to the game known as shuffleboard and the teams are made up of four players. The goal is to locate the polished granite stone, or rock towards a circular target on the ice – with a broom, no less.

Had the writers of ‘seeing through a glass darkly’ known of screen doors, perhaps they would understand about the squinting that takes place when trying to peer through these tiny webs.

Moving across the country, starting work in a new geographical location and riding the roads that wind between who I was and who I am becoming is exhausting, even with eight hours of sleep. Settling in and being unsettled vary. Perhaps a few cold days signalling winter and a screen-less window might help.